Is this love?
by Fanwrite
Summary: Italian country boy Lovino is tired of his cruel life of messing up and not being good enough. So when a certain Spaniard meets him at the lake and shows him friendliness, can Lovino's life get better?
1. Chapter 1

"This sucks," Lovino muttered as he skipped another stone along the surface of the lake's water. The day hadn't gone his way. At all. And now he was sitting here, sulking about his life.

"Why must life be such a bitch?" the Italian asked himself before dropping onto the grass, looking up at the clouds passing by in the sky.

This same day, he had tried helping around the house. His grandpa Augustus, or Roma as he preferred to be called, was sorting out old family memories that were stacked in boxes in the attic and needed definite sorting out. Lovino offered to help. And messed everything up.

All the photos and documents and books were scattered everywhere, shelves falling off the walls, little monumental pieces shattered into minuscule shards.

Lovino cringed at the thoughts of how much he messed up; of how he could never be as good as his perfect twin brother, Feliciano.

Just then, the nearby bushes rustled. Lovino lay still. No one ever came to this lake. Barely anyone knew about it. He could hear his pulse beating in his ears. What if this person found him and had bad intentions? There was no one here; no one to help him.

Lovino held his breath as he looked in the direction the noise came from. Just as he thought he had imagined it, he saw a face. A man's face. Lovino's eyes widened.

The man was handsome, the handsomest Lovino had ever seen. His skin was tanned, his chocolate brown hair tousled. But what caught Lovino's attention the most were the man's eyes. They were as green as the grass and sparkled like emeralds.

Even though the man was beyond beautiful, Lovino still felt in complete danger. He was out in the open, the man was a complete stranger. _Get up and hide_, he told himself silently. As quietly as he could, Lovino rolled onto his stomach and tried to crawl towards a bush that would hide him.

The man turned his head. He was looking right at him. _Crap!_

Crawling faster, Lovino hid behind a tree, his heart beating way too fast. _He definitely saw me._

"Hola," Lovino's eyes widened. He looked behind the tree. The man was standing there, his green eyes on him. He was just as stunning close up as he was from far away.

"What do you want?" Lovino tried to sound confident, arrogant, but his voice wavered. The man smiled.

"What's your name, muchacho?" the man smiled at him.

Lovino thought for a second. "Muchacho"? And the man was definitely not Italian. He was speaking in English – well, mostly.

"Why would I tell you, bastard?"

The man was still smiling. "I'm Antonio. Any way, what are you doing out here?"

"Again, why the fuck would I tell you?"

Lovino didn't understand how the man, Antonio, could be so cheerful. He insulted him and yet he still smiled as if Lovino had said nothing. It got on Lovino's nerves a bit.

"How old are you anyway? You look about 17. Do you live around here?" Lovino's head was bombarded by the man's questions. He thought it might explode any second.

"Ugh, shut up!" Romano burst out banging the back of his head on the tree trunk. The man stopped and looked at him silently.

"Why should I tell you anything about me?" Lovino asked, "And why do you even care?"

"Why should I not care?"

That caught Lovino off guard. "W-what?"

"I meet a cute boy out here and you expect me to not care why he is looking so depressed?"

Lovino's face turned the colour of a tomato. "I'm not cute," he muttered.

Antonio chuckled. "Well?"

Lovino sighed and started to get up. This man was no threat. He was pretty annoying though. And fascinating. Most people would have given up on trying to talk to him by now. And yet, this one man had so much patience for him...

Lovino looked him over again. He really was handsome. With those beautiful emerald eyes...

Lovino slapped himself on the cheek. Antonio looked at him in alarm.

"What are you doing?"

"It's nothing," Lovino snapped. How could he think about this man like that? He was a MAN. _It's not right,_ Lovino told himself. He looked up at Antonio.

"I'm going home," he said and turned to leave, but before he could walk away, the man caught him by his wrist.

"Wait," he begged, "At least tell me your name."

Lovino thought for a silent moment. What harm could it do, right?

"Lovino," he muttered, "My name's Lovino."

"Lovino..." Antonio spoke his name like it was the name of an angel, "I'll remember that."


	2. Chapter 2

Lovino tried to forget the man. But he couldn't. Antonio's face was there, at the back of his mind.

"Why must he be haunting me now," he muttered angrily to himself.

"Who's haunting you?" Lovino jumped. Turning his head, he saw the happy face of his brother.

"None of your business, Feli," Lovino snapped.

"Oh but Lovi," Feliciano whined, "You never tell me anything any more..."

Lovino sighed. He didn't want to get into a pointless discussion with his brother right now.

"Feli, when you're older you'll understand. Now scram."

Feliciano thought for a moment. "We're the same age..."

"Go. Play some football or something."

Feliciano did as he was told. Lovino watched as his twin ran to the old shed to fetch the beloved, worn-out football that he received years ago as a present from Roma. He smiled faintly to himself. At least he can be carefree for another few years, Lovino thought.

He turned back to the direction of the village. Roma had asked him to buy some bread at the market. Usually Feliciano would get the task to go buy food, but Lovino volunteered to get it this time. He needed a distraction. And this was a good way to get one.

The village was a short walk away from their old farmhouse. The cool breeze felt nice against Lovino's skin as the first buildings came into sight.

The village was always the same; busy with people browsing items at the market stalls, the salesmen's shouts echoing in the air.

Something unusual was happening though. Lovino could hear a guitar, accompanied by a voice that sounded like velvet. He normally would just shrug it off and forget about it. Somehow, he couldn't force himself to this time. The music was enchanting, like nothing he had heard before.

As he approached the source of the sound, he stopped. A small crowd had gathered around a young man with a guitar on his lap. Even from a distance Lovino could tell who it was, who the voice belonged to. The man was strumming the strings gently. His voice filtered out the sound of everything and everyone around him. Lovino couldn't understand the language he was singing in but somehow, he could understand with his heart.

The song ended and the crowd thinned out. Romano wanted to leave but his feet refused. Awestruck, he stood still, eyes on Antonio. Slowly, Antonio raised his head and looked at him, a kind smile on his lips.

"Hola, Lovino," he smiled. Lovino didn't say anything; only watched as Antonio approached him.

"Did you like my song?"

"It was decent, I guess," Lovino muttered. He said that, but what he meant was that it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard.

Antonio grinned. "I'm glad you enjoyed it, muchacho." Lovino blushed a little and looked away. Some villagers were watching them talked with amused or curious looks. Everyone in the village knew him – the grumpy grandson of the always cheerful Augustus Vargas, who never had anything nice to say.

"Is something wrong?" Antonio asked.

"None of your business."

Antonio's smile didn't falter as he said his next words.

"Would you like to join me for a snack?"

Lovino looked back up at him, surprise on his features. "W-what?"

Antonio laughed. Lovino noted to himself that even the man's laugh was beautiful. _Damn it_, he thought.

"So, what do you say?"

Lovino didn't even think. He was about to say an outright "no" when he heard a voice calling his name. Lovino turned his head. Feliciano was running towards him, carrying a piece of paper in his hand.

"Lovino, grandpa asked if you could also buy these things at the market," Feliciano told him in Italian when he reached him.

"I'll see what I can do," Lovino said snatching the list from his brother's hand and reading it over.

"Who's this?" Feliciano asked looking at Antonio, who smiled at him. Lovino looked at him. He probably didn't understand a thing they were saying.

"Hello," Antonio said, "I'm Antonio. Are you Lovi's brother?"

Lovino's ears perked up and his face went bright red.

"When did I start allowing you to call me "Lovi", you bastard?!"

Feliciano giggled. "Hello, my name's Feliciano."

"It's lovely to meet you Feliciano," Antonio chuckled. Smiling, he turned towards Lovino. "So how about it?"

"No, I'm not going anywhere with you. I didn't come looking for you, I didn't want to see your face again. I came to shop."

"Alright, maybe another time then, Lovi."

Lovino's heart hammered in his chest. Why did this happen when Antonio even looked at him? He didn't know this man at all.

"Don't get your hopes up." Antonio nodded, said goodbye and left. Lovino watched as the man left, his eyes following his every movement. Feliciano looked at him with a smile on his face.

"He was really nice, Lovi."

Lovino looked at him. "You can't decide that after only just meeting him, stupid," he snapped, before turning back to the silhouette of the leaving man.

Feliciano smiled happily. "I'll leave you the list and be off then. Take care!"

"Sure," Lovino watched as his brother started running back down the lane, saying hello to most of the villagers who adored him. Lovino cringed. Everyone adored his brother, but he himself was hated. How ironic that they were twins.

After buying everything on the list, Lovino headed home. It was getting dark, and he knew how worried his grandpa and Feliciano got when he was out at night. Yet somehow he found himself going down the familiar path up the hill to the lake. He didn't care, he just wanted some time to think, something his loud, cheerful family usually denied him.

After twenty minutes of walking, Lovino could see the lake's still water behind the trees and bushes. This was his special place, where no one else existed, and every trouble could be forgotten. He sat down on the usual spot of the grass and watched the water, as still as the night. Today had been a tough day. But for some reason Lovino didn't understand, he felt happier.

Lovino closed his hazel eyes. How was it possible for this one man who he knew nothing about to make him feel this way? Hugging his knees to his chest, he hid his face. Why was everything so hard?

"I want to see him again," Lovino whispered to himself, before getting up and making his way down the hill and back towards the farmhouse.

By the time Lovino got home, the stars were already out. All the lights were on inside and Lovino could tell just by looking from far away that he was going to be bombarded the moment he got home. Sighing, he opened the unlocked door.

"Lovino!" he heard Feliciano exclaim the moment he opened the door.

"Lovino, where have you been, my boy?" Lovino looked up to see his grandpa approach him down the corridor.

"Nowhere in particular," Lovino answered looking his grandpa in the eyes. Roma held his gaze for a few seconds before smiling.

"I'm glad you're home safe."

Lovino nodded. He was almost 18, but his grandpa still treated and worried about him like he was a little child. He loved his grandpa, but he wished he could get just a little more freedom.

"I'm going up to my room," he said handing the basket he was still holding to Feliciano and starting to walk up the stairs.

"Good night, Lovi. Sleep well."

Lovino nodded and headed to his room. He closed the door behind him and dropped himself onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. He closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. But sleep was the last thing he wanted. He wondered what time it was. Slowly getting up, he sneaked out of his room, through the dark corridor, down the stairs and through the back door into the small garden. Sitting down on the bench, he looked up at the night sky. The moon was full and shone down beautifully, illuminating the garden with its silver glow. The stars glimmered in the sky, like millions of tiny diamonds.

"Lovino?" Lovino jumped as he heard his name. Turning, he saw Feliciano standing in the doorway, his hair messy, the curl that never behaved still there.

"What is it, Feliciano?"

"What are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

Feliciano looked at him for a few moments before joining him on the bench.

"Lovino... have you ever liked someone?"

Lovino's face burned. Glad that it was dark, he answered, "Why do you want to know that?"

"No reason, really." Lovino calmed a little when he heard his siblings voice.

"Just follow your heart or whatever," Lovino muttered looking up at the stars. He could feel Feliciano's eyes on him, but ignored it.

"I guess you're right," Feliciano whispered happily, before getting up and going back inside.

"I think my heart will lead me to hell and back though," Lovino whispered. Closing his eyes, all he could see was Antonio's face, his beautiful eyes as green as the grass...


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry this one's so short ^^;**

Somehow he had fallen asleep on the bench. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the blue sky. Lovino blinked a few times and watched the clouds pass by above him. Sighing, he got up and headed inside where Roma and Feliciano were already eating breakfast.

"Good morning, Lovino," Roma smiled at him as he sat down at the table.

"Good morning, grandpa." Lovino looked at the bread smeared with home-made jam on the plate in front of him. He wasn't very hungry so he just took a tomato from the windowsill and ate it looking out of the window at the fields.

"I'm done grandpa," Feliciano smiled and started to get up, "May I go now?"

Lovino looked at his excited little brother. He seemed even more energetic than usual.

"Where are you going?" Roma asked.

"Just for a walk."

"Alright, but be careful." Feliciano nodded, placed the plate in the sink and skipped out of the back door. Lovino watched him run out of the gate with curiosity.

"Is there somewhere you want to go?" Lovino looked at his grandpa.

"Not anywhere in particular."

Roma nodded. "I'll let you do what you want. I need to get on with the house work." As Roma got up and headed out of the room, Lovino decided that he would take a walk as well.

The road was empty as usual – no one apart from his family ever came walking here. Lovino enjoyed the silence, interrupted only by some birds flying by or some insects buzzing in the grass.

Then he heard laughter. He recognised it in a second. The same laughter that he heard yesterday. Turning his head to his left, he saw three figures walking through the field in his direction. A tall man with silver hair and dark copper eyes that looked like they were crimson, a slightly shorter man with stubble, blond locks of hair that reached his shoulders and dark blue eyes, and, of course, Antonio, his brown hair still messy, lips in a smile, his grass green eyes sparkling...

An uninvited blush spread across Lovino's face. His heart started beating fast again, blood rushing to his ears. The man looked in his direction and smiled. Eyes wide, Lovino started to run down the road, not stopping until he dropped onto his knees, breathless. Clutching at his chest, Lovino took deep breaths. Warm, unexplainable tears spilt down his cheeks, falling onto the ground. Why did just the sight of the Spaniard, his smile, his beautiful eyes, make him feel this way?

"God damn it," Lovino sobbed, closing his eyes.


End file.
